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Two delicious Raw Cacao & Goji Berry recipes

Today I played around in the kitchen with two of my favourite Superfoods: Raw Cocao and dried Goji berries. It is actually so hard to pick my preferences as there are so many superfoods that I adore and each one has different nutritional values to add to your health. See below a brief outline of the benefits of raw cacao and goji berries according to The Magic of Superfoods:

The benefits of raw cacao include:

Raw cacao is a fantastic source of magnesium which increases the strength of the heart muscle. It also decreases blood coagulation which lowers blood pressure.

Longevity antioxidants: Raw cacao is one of the richest sources of antioxidants in any food

Brain Health: Raw cocoa has been found to contain up to 2.2% phenylethylamine (PEA) which increases the activity of brain chemicals which helps us to pay attention and stay alert.

Raw cacao is a great source of iron & manganese which provides us with energy

Weight loss: You better believe it! Raw cacao diminishes your appetite; it is the added processed sugar and diary in shop-bought chocolate that makes you pick up weight. Eating raw cacao makes you feel full and thus you eat less and lose weight.

The benefits of goji berries include:

Goji Berries strengthen the body and helps the body deal with stress. It also enhances stamina, longevity and sexual energy 😉

Goji berries increase our body’s production of superoxide dismutase (SOD) which prevents cholesterol from oxidising and attaching to the heart’s walls.

As you can see, these two ingredients are super beneficial to your health and they are so easy to include into your daily diet. The two recipes I made today, proves just that! For lunch I made a raw cacao and banana smoothie and as a sweet little treat, I threw together a few items to make the most delicious raw vegan chocolates. I made both recipes (from the top of my head) and cleaned up the kitchen in less than an hour! The goji berries in the raw vegan chocolate is especially good – from refrigerating, it goes a little crunchy whilst the chocolate melts away in your mouth. Simply delicious!

Raw vegan chocolates:

INGREDIENTS:

½ cup raw cocoa powder

40ml raw agave syrup or 60ml maple syrup

1/3 cup melted coconut oil

½ cup dried goji berries

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS:

Sift cocoa in a mixing bowl

Add all of the other ingredients & whisk well until the mixture is blended smoothly

Pour into chocolate moulds

Transfer it to the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Keep refrigerated until served

-Mix it, mold it, refrigerate it and ENJOY!

Chocolate, banana & goji berry smoothie:

INGREDIENTS:

1-2 frozen bananas

A cup frozen strawberries

1-2 tablespoons of raw cacao powder

Few blocks of ice (about six blocks)

Small hand-full of dried goji berries

NOTE: Ingredients many vary depending on your taste and the amount of smoothies you want to make. This one makes 1 – 2 smoothies

INSTRUCTIONS:

Simply chuck everything in your food processor and blend the ingredients untill the mixture is smooth and thick

Serve in a tall glass and garnish with goji berries

– Cheers to your health!

– My picture to look out for between the entires

PLEASE remember to help a vegan out and vote for me for the Wellness Warehouse LiveLifeWell ompetition! It will only take you 5 mins and I would really appreciate it Just click on the VOTE button next to my name (Leozette Roode) here. Then click “sign in to Facebook” and then “okay” for first time voters. But you don’t have to share it on your Facebook wall.